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words_Jordan Hagedorn

After being one of the best players in the league for his entire seven year career, LeBron James will officially be a free agent in two days. Of the possible teams he may play for next year, it seems to be narrowed down to a select few. I’ll break down the teams he could sign with and the pros and cons that come with each situation.

Be sure to comment on where you think he will play next year.

Cleveland Cavaliers.
Pros:
-He has lived in Ohio his whole life and the fans adore him.
-The Cavs drafted him and he has team mates he likes.
-The Cavs have made decent Playoff runs in LeBron’s career.

Cons:
-He has lived in Ohio his whole life.
-The Cavs may not bring in enough talent to win titles.
-Cleveland isn’t exactly the Sports Mecca.

Chicago Bulls.
Pros:
-The Bulls have a great history in which LeBron is fond of.
-The Bulls have some great young pieces LeBron could win with.
-Chicago would provide him with big marketing opportunities.

Cons:
-He may live in the shadow of Michael Jordan if he doesn’t win titles.
-The unknown of if LeBron and the Bull’s new coach would mesh.
-Cold Chicago Weather.

Miami Heat.
Pros:
-Could potentially play with Wade and Bosh making them an instant favorite to win the title.
-No income tax in Florida and Miami weather is amazing.
-Strong organization with Pat Riley in charge.

Cons:
-Would he and Wade be able to co-exist?
-Not as many marketing opportunities as NY and Chi Town.
-Possible Distractions.

Nah, Cleveland’s done as an option, it’ll take ‘em years to get to a competitive level again. If he’s all about winning this ain’t happening.

I don’t think it’ll be Miami, because if he plays with Wade, he could very easily end up being the #2 on that team, because Wade’s just more active, and aggressive, and I don’t think he could take that.

New Jersey has some promise, but a long way to go.

New York, not gonna happen, D’Antoni fun, but never WINS, the rest of the team, is just terrible.

Chicago, a better young core, than NJ, not as dominant a player as Wade(so LeBron can still be LeBron), so they’re by far the best option to win.

And MJ overshadows nearly everybody, you have to score over 30ppg to challenge that.

It won’t take Cleveland years to get at a competitive level. They ARE at a competitive level. Sure, they’ve come up short. But as constructed, they’re already a top tier team in the league. Boston gets older and has a lot of questions. Orlando has to address some holes left through free agency. Miami is due to pair somebody with Wade and become elite – but they still have a whole roster to fill.

Cleveland is still right there. And there’s always trades to be made. Cleveland doesn’t have any real long term cap issues.

Well I was all for him to stay in Cleveland til they came up short for the second year in a row. I’m not sure where I’d like to see him end up though. I’d love to see him on NY but they just don’t have the talent for him to go to the finals either. I just don’t have the answers

He will go to the Heat once they bring Wade back and sign Bosh. South Beach is too enticing for The King, and I doubt that someone who is willing to change his number to respect MJ is going to take the risk of trying to live in his shadow in Chicago. In terms of Wade being unsigned, the Heat have way more cap space than any other team – enough to make this three-headed monster happen.

I think any superstar athlete is better staying with one team his entire career. The Cavs will allow LeBron to make whatever he wants in Cleveland. He has the biggest possible fan base there. If that’s not good enough, he can always pull a Kobe and change his jersey number in order to sell more jerseys.

If he really wants to prove himself as the best player he should go to the Clippers or Nets and start from scratch. He started from scratch in Cleveland and didn’t finish the job.

If he just wants to win, of course sign with Miami, add Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire, whoever else and they should be able to win. Emphasis on should.

LeBron doesn’t need New York to be a global icon, he has proven that by becoming one in Cleveland. New York will destroy him in the media, as will the NY fans, because he won’t win a championship there for a few years at least and that won’t be good enough.

The bottom line, Ohio loves LeBron and that’s where he should stay. He’ll never be as big of a star as he can be in his own home area. People there know how hard he has worked since day one. Nobody else can remember that. Prove himself, have resolve, win some titles and he could be the greatest ever.